A DEVASTATED wife tried to burn down the house of her husband’s lover after finding out about their affair, a court heard.

Alison Watson, who is a clerk to a village parish council, set fire to the front door of a house in Rowan Close, Binley Woods.

A month before the arson attack she’d discovered her doctor husband had had an affair with a woman who lived there.

Watson, aged 52, was remanded in custody for psychiatric reports after a hearing at Warwick Crown Court.

The victim was alone at home at the time of the attack, in the early hours of March 20.

She was woken up by her smoke alarm and fled in her nightclothes.

Watson, of High Street, Walton, near Lutterworth, was arrested the same night and later pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to arson, being reckless whether life was endangered.

The court heard Watson, who is clerk of Huncote Parish Council, in Leicestershire, used firelighters to start the blaze - which badly damaged the door and hall.

During a sentencing hearing, Andrew Tucker, defending, asked the judge to make Watson the subject of a hospital order under the Mental Health Act.

He said: “It is postulated that she might be someone who is suitable for a hospital order, but no final decision can be taken on that today because there will need to be an assessment of her suitability for a place at a hospital in Nottingham.”

Watson sobbed uncontrollably in the dock because she wanted to know her fate there and then, but Judge Christopher Hodson said there were “serious aspects” to the case.

He adjourned the hearing so doctors could visit Watson at Peterborough prison, where she is on remand, to assess her suitability for such an order.

A parish council spokesman said he was not aware of the details of the case and added that the clerk was on a three-month sabbatical.